00 men. Defensive
treaties were also concluded with Russia and Austria, and a triple
alliance was formed in virtue of which Russia sent subsidies to Austria;
for Catherine would take no part in the war by land. The imperial loan,
which in 1798 became a charge on the consolidated fund, was raised at
the rate of 7-1/2 per cent. It was unsuccessfully opposed by Fox, who
argued against the general policy of making grants to foreign powers,
whether by way of loans or subsidies, and pointed out that the only real
difference between a loan and a subsidy was that, in the case of a loan
England would not be able to get rid of the payment, whereas a monthly
subsidy could be stopped if the contract was broken.

In Germany the war was not marked by any great event. France was much
distressed by domestic troubles. Public credit failed; and Pitt,
speaking on Grey's motion for peace, argued that France was near the end
of her resources. Food was scarce and half Paris was only kept alive by
distributions of bread and meat at low prices. The jacobins of Paris
were crushed by the thermidoriens, and in the south-east a sanguinary
movement of the enemies of the republic, the "white terror," pursued its
course unchecked. In August a new constitution was adopted of a far less
democratic character than that of 1793; the executive was vested in a
directory of five and the legislative in two assemblies. An insurrection
in Paris on October 5 was quelled mainly by the fire of a few cannon
under the command of Bonaparte, and the revolution assumed an organised
and settled form. Three years of war had brought Austria also to a state
of exhaustion. Active operations, therefore, did not begin until late.
Luxemburg surrendered after a blockade; and in the autumn Jourdan and
Pichegru led two armies across the Rhine at different points. Jourdan
drove the Austrians back and invested Mainz; Pichegru occupied Mannheim.
Clairfait, however, forced Jourdan to abandon the siege of Mainz and cut
the two French generals off from one another. Mannheim was retaken and
both the French armies were pushed back across the Rhine.

[Sidenote: _A LOST OPPORTUNITY._]

In the war on the Italian frontier the British fleet in the
Mediterranean bore some part. In Hood's absence it was commanded by
Admiral Hotham, a distinguished officer, though lacking in dash and
resolution. The French threatened Corsica with their Toulon fleet.
Hotham engaged them on March 13 and 14, and